Lutra

(By Lutra - a sequel to Of Times and Tide)

Lutra hung almost motionless in the cool shallows of the moonlit ocean, using her arms and the merest flick of her iridescent tail to stop the water carrying her away from the shore. Just her head was showing above the water as she watched two extraordinary landlivers conversing on the damp sands. She'd never seen anything like these two creatures before, had no idea they could even exist. The top halves of their bodies were humanlike, as hers was; but their lower halves, unlike hers which was a slender, streamlined fish tail, belonged to some massive quadruped.
       The larger of the two had a glistening black lower half, and the hair of his head and tail was a shimmering mix of deep black and silver. The pale skin of his human half, Lutra knew, was smooth and warm, his chest deep and broad. He was very strong. His name was Beauday, and he had come to her rescue only a short time ago.
       If Beauday seemed to be a creature of moonlight and shadows, the second one was born of the mid-summer daylight. Lutra wasn't sure at first of the sex of the second creature; it was much lighter and finer boned than the solid Beauday. She would have guessed it was female, and maybe Beauday's mate, until she got a clear look at it's - his - torso. Definitely male, but a leaner, lither male. The burnished gold of his lower half merged with an upper half that would probably be a golden tan in the daylight. His head and tail hair seemed to be a golden-red, and Lutra noticed with fascination that his head hair fell into curls and whorls down his back like the eddies in a tide pool. Curly hair was rare amongst her people and she longed to touch the reddish strands.
       She watched them talk for a short while, then they turned to leave. Before they began to trot back along the beach, Beauday glanced over his shoulder at her and gave her a quick smile. Lutra's heart jogged painfully in her chest. She had never felt so sad, but then, she had never really had to say goodbye to someone so - entrancing. She watched with a heavy heart until the pair of fabulous creatures were out of sight. Wincing slightly at the newly remembered pain in her head, Lutra turned towards the open sea and home.

It took a while to reach her families' waters. Father Sun was just beginning his journey across the sky when she finally, and tiredly, swam into the deep-water caves where her family lived. If she hadn't been so tired and heart-sore, Lutra would have been overwhelmed by the joy and excitement with which her family members greeted her. The small clan had thought she'd been taken by the sea, never to be seen again. She was fussed and clucked over, and everyone from oldest to youngest wanted her to tell her story. Meluss, the eldest of the healers, firmly but gently told them to 'leave the poor child alone' and led Lutra off to a quiet spot to check her health.
       "Hmm, nothing broken." Meluss pronounced after gently prodding and probing Lutra. The older female gently chided the younger. "That's good, but you were lucky this time, child. Maybe next time, when someone older and wiser says not to do a stupid thing, you might listen."
       Meluss was smiling as she lectured. Lutra smiled shyly, her eyes shining. "I was lucky, Meluss. If Beauday hadn't rescued me, I'd still be stuck in that rock pool."
       Meluss's eyes narrowed as she regarded the animated young female before her. "Tell me what happened."
       Lutra did, in glowing terms. Meluss watched closely as Lutra described the black and silver-shot creature that carried her from the rock pool where she'd been stranded, back to the retreating ocean. Gallantly carrying her on his back, because she couldn't get there herself...
       Meluss's face suddenly lit up in dawning comprehension. "Ah! It was a dream!"
       Lutra stopped suddenly and frowned. "What do you mean, a dream?"
       "The bump on your head made you have a dream. A very vivid and exotic one truly, but a dream nonetheless." Meluss looked satisfied with her reasoning.
       "It wasn't a dream, Meluss." Lutra said firmly.
       "Must've been, child." Meluss was dismissive. "There are no landlivers that look like that. It was purely a fantasy conjured up by your mind while you were injured."
       "But it felt so real." Lutra said wonderingly, looking at her fingers. In her mind she could still see and feel the long, black and silver strands of Beauday's hair twined about her fingers. "And I spoke to him, he could understand me."
       "Well, that proves it doesn't it." Meluss said heartily. Lutra looked bewildered at the older female's logic. Meluss sighed and tried to explain. "We don't and can't speak to the landlivers now, we haven't been able to for generations. Only in a dream could you communicate with it."
       "Him." Lutra corrected the elder absently.
       Meluss pursed her lips and frowned. "Anyway, it is time for you to get some rest. The joining of the Mother moon and her children last night, as you know, is the signal to begin the journey to the clans gathering. We'll be leaving at Mother Moon's rise tonight." Meluss gave Lutra a hug and a peck on the cheek, then shoved her gently in the direction of the sleeping area. "We are overjoyed to have you back with us. Go now, and rest."

Lutra obeyed, swimming despondently away. She was confused and a little hurt by the elder's outright dismissal of her story. Beauday hadn't been a dream, Lutra was convinced of that. Once again her heart ached with the thought that she would probably never see him again.
       Lost in her reverie, she didn't notice at first a pair of large and strong hands circle around her waist. She did notice, however, when she felt herself being pulled gently back against a strong masculine body. She smiled a little. "Hello, Damiom." The hands turned her around until she was facing him. His lavender eyes showed a deep concern for her.
       "I was so worried about you." He said softly, pulling her to him and kissing first her temple, then planting more light kisses down her cheek towards her neck. Lutra couldn't help comparing the sight and feel of her lifelong friend and occasional lover with the dark landliver. Not as broad, nor as strong; and so cool compared to the heat she had felt radiate from Beauday as she'd sat nestled against his back. Damiom's skin was also pale but his face seemed to be not as sharply defined as Beauday's clear features. And where Beauday's hair was midnight black, Damiom's waist length tresses were the colour of the pale caps of storm generated waves. It was so much finer than Beauday's thick mane, and floated around his shoulders now like a drift of pale seaweed.
       Damiom entwined his grey tinged tail around hers and pulled her closer still; she could feel his hardness pressing close to her ventral opening as he kissed behind her ear. Suddenly, the despair she felt at the loss of the landliver overwhelmed her and she pushed Damiom away roughly. "I don't want to play with children!" She snapped, backing away from him. Damiom at first looked confused, then hurt and angry.
       "Children? I'm older than you!"
       "You've never helped a female have a baby, so you're still a child." It was a spiteful thing to say she knew, but couldn't stop herself. Damiom looked grim, wondering how to deal with this unusual flash of temper from Lutra. He smiled gently and reached for her again.
       "You're just tired. Come and rest with me, I'll help you sleep." He coaxed. Lutra slapped his hand away, and with an angry flick of her tail, put more distance between them. She glared at him. How dare he? How dare he assume that all it would take for her to go to him was a smile and a touch. It had in the past, and it was mutual but... Her thoughts spun confusedly like a school of trapped fish. She turned and darted away from him, leaving him even more confused and angry than before.

Lutra swam far and fast, away from her family, trying to order her thoughts. Could the episode with Beauday have been a fantasy? Could a fantasy destroy her equilibrium like this?

She finally stopped swimming when she realised she had swum up from the deep water and was approaching the shore. She felt a desperate need to see the handsome landliver again, to see him in the daylight and prove he was real. She surfaced to get her bearings on the unfamiliar shore; then swum easily down the coast, following the path the two landlivers had taken last night. She was getting close to the landliver dwellings, and focused inwardly as she was, she didn't realise her danger until a harsh shout froze her into terrified immobility. She glanced quickly about, panic making her breath short, and spotted the sea vessel bobbing on the water too close to her. So close, she could make out the bold pattern of the cloth the landliver was wearing. He was shouting and gesturing madly to another landliver, who fortunately was too busy to turn around and see what the fuss was about. Lutra pulled herself together and dived as deep as she could, desperately searching for somewhere to hide. There was a small pile of rocks a short distance away. Lutra darted towards them, and pressed herself as close as possible to them near the seabed, her heart thudding in her chest. She tried to still her panic. The water was just deep enough here that hopefully the landlivers wouldn't be able to spot her against the pale sea bottom.
       Suddenly the enormity of what she had done struck her full force, causing her head to ache anew. In her desire to see Beauday again, she had not only put herself and her family at risk, but all the other families of her people scattered throughout the oceans. She knew, with a cold sick clarity, that if the landlivers got a clear sight of her, they could confirm the existence of her people, and then come looking for them. In her despair she gave a shrill, keening cry, but managed to choke it back; her instinct for self-preservation overriding her natural response. Lutra watched the vessel manoeuvre purposefully closer to her hiding place. She closed her eyes and willed herself to stillness.

She jerked sharply at the delicate nudge at her back. Her eyes flew open and she found herself looking into the intelligent brown eyes of a Cheum. It was the mate to the one that had touched her back. She almost shouted in relief. Of course, they must have been nearby and heard her cry. Cheum were large and playful creatures; almost as pale as her people, but they had flippers instead of arms, and were covered in a fine, soft pelt. The families lived co-operatively with the Cheum, helping each other with food gathering and defence...
       Lutra had an idea.
       Employing the truncated sign language accented by short vocals that her people used to communicate with the Cheum, Lutra asked for their help. They readily agreed - this had the makings of a great joke.
       She told them what she needed them to do, then watched anxiously as they swam off towards the landliver's vessel. The Cheum surfaced a short distance from the vessel, on the side furthest from Lutra, and began to frolic about, making huge splashes. Lutra swam slowly and cautiously up from her hiding place, straining to hear what was happening on the surface.
       She couldn't understand what was being said, of course, but the tone of it sounded like the landliver that had spotted her was trying to convince his companion that it wasn't a Cheum he had seen earlier. It sounded, to Lutra's immense relief, as if the second landliver didn't believe him. When she was convinced that the landlivers were suitably diverted by the antics of the Cheum, she smiled and swam speedily away, sticking close to the seabed until she had reached the deeper waters.
       The two Cheum caught up with her in a little while, and she stopped to thank them; rolling and darting around them like one of their young, and finally giving them both a good scratch along their bellies as a parting gesture. She had to make good time getting back to her families' waters. She didn't think they'd leave for the gathering without her, but they would be angry if she delayed them.

By the time she got back her clan was indeed almost ready to go. Her people had no possessions, so the getting ready was largely a matter of making sure everyone was there.
       Lutra spotted Damiom helping marshal some of the younger ones, laughingly herding them back together. She swam closer to him, wanting desperately to make amends and tell him how sorry she was. She stopped short though, unsure of her reception. Damiom spotted her hovering there, and gazed at her. Lutra smiled shyly - Damiom smiled back. She suddenly beamed him a look of sultry promise and swam quickly away, glancing back over her shoulder at him. He didn't follow, though he looked like he wanted to; one of the little ones grabbed his hand and tugged his attention away from her.
       As Lutra took part in the leave-taking preparations, she watched Damiom surreptitiously. He really was very attractive, and she was looking forward to making friends with him again. Lutra absently ran her hand across her belly. She knew that Damion really, really wanted to help her to her first child. Well, there was a good chance of that. Judging by the changes she could feel happening within, her body would soon be ready for a baby. She looked over at Nulan and Trisk, the newest parents in her family, and felt a familiar sting of longing as she looked at their tiny newborn. She looked back at Damiom and smiled happily. He would make a good father, maybe even a good bondmate, but they were too young to think of things like that yet. Besides, there would be many attractive males at the gathering; she might just make him work for the privilege of having a child with her...

When the soft glow of Mother Moon heralded her journey across the sky, the clan began their own long journey to the families gathering. Lutra thought again about Beauday. The thought of the beautiful dark landliver still hurt, but back amongst her family, it had become only a small sweet ache that she could keep close to her heart. It didn't really matter, Lutra realised, if no one believed her tale about her rescue and ride back to the sea, it was still a beautiful, magical story that all her children would love.
       Meluss was keeping an eye on her, Lutra noticed. She smiled at the older woman, and was reassured when Meluss smiled back and shook her head at the folly of youth.
       Lutra laughed and swam closer to Damiom. He reached out a hand to her, shyly almost. She smiled lovingly at him and clasped his hand. They swam on together, surrounded by the warm and comforting presence of their family...